Written By: Robert Kirkman
Art By: Ryan Ottley
Cover By: Ryan Ottley
Publisher: Image Comics

Synopsis:All good things must come to an end… – (Source)

The Good:
The art on this book has always been top notch and Ryan Ottley does not disappoint at all. There is a crispness and cleanness to the way he draws and the inking and coloring just serves to bring his stellar pencils to another level. This book looks like what one would expect a traditional super-hero book to look like: all clean lines and bright colors.
So it is quit the gut punch when one realizes just how nontraditional this book is thanks to THE WALKING DEAD writer Robert Kirkman. Kirkman has always pushed the envelope with this book especially in terms of the violence which can sometimes border on the absurd but he crossed a line that is rarely crossed in any medium with this issue by having the male star of the book be raped. Sure he didn’t go that extra step and have it be by another man but even though this was an assault perpetrated by a woman it was still extremely violent and traumatic. I also have to give credit to Kirkman for not making things so black and white either. Sure it is very evident that Invincible was raped by Anissa and the fact that she is a full-blooded Viltrumite and Invincible is part human gave her the strength to overpower him, there is evidence that somewhere along the way Invincible stopped resisting. So how is the victim of the assault going to feel when he has to come to grips with the fact that while he was vehemently objecting to what was happening physically his body was responding to the stimulation?

The Bad:
Man, the early pages of Invincible’s break up with his pregnant girlfriend (and fellow hero) Atom Eve was a chore to get through. The dialogue was clunky and the reasoning on Eve’s part made no sense whatsoever. The things she said and the venom she was spitting would have been appropriate for a civilian but for someone who is in the super-hero game to be such a pill was a bit off.

The Ugly:
The Viltrumite idea of good sex is pretty awful. And Anissa’s promise of a round two was just harsh.

Final Verdict: A major envelop-pushing story that completely changes the direction of this comic and sets up some pretty interesting and fertile ground for the future. Aside from an awkward opening few pages this was a really gripping and dramatic issue that has me eager to see what comes next.

Rating: B+